Download Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management

Sustainable Agriculture and
Natural Resources Management
Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management activities seek to increase agricultural productivity
through adoption of practices that maintain the long term ecological and biological integrity of natural resources.
Activities in this sub-sector cut across the rural, social, and environmental issues of natural resource management
to sustain significant increases in farm productivity through the efficient use of land and other resources. The goal
is to provide better economic returns to individuals and contribute to the quality of life and economic development.
Rationale for Integrating Gender into Agriculture and
Natural Resource Management
Strategies for sustainable agriculture development and NRM stress participation and empowerment of farmers and
communities, as well as partnership development among all stakeholders. Gender relations at the community and family
levels play a crucial role in the success of their efforts to harmonize agricultural intensification with environmental
integrity and promote social equity while maintaining economic and production objectives.
Uttar Pradesh Sodic Land Reclamation
Project in India
The project sought to reverse the trend in productivity decline
in vast stretches of sodic lands through a land reclamation
process. It also aimed to make the process sustainable by
preventing further increases in sodicity through the effective
management of programs with strong community participation
and NGO support. Not only has the project used the latest
technological methods, but also it has emphasized social aspects
to ensure stakeholders commitment in sustaining the activities
to manage the sodic lands.
The project is ahead of its target thanks to the motivation
and participation of male and female farmers. Some of the
highlights are:
• 45,000 hectares of land have been reclaimed and brought
under cultivation
• cropping intensity has gone up
• 58,000 landless laborers have been allocated land and the
need to seek off-farm employment has been reduced
• women’s groups have been formed which have become
important centers of economic activity
• access to institutional credit has improved: banks now
extend group credits to women for related activities such as
dairy farming, nursery raising, and trading
• the overall social and economic wellbeing in the villages has
improved.
The project’s enormous success is based on using social and
institutional mechanisms to coordinate community efforts.
Some important lessons:
• Correct sequencing of project activities: first, establish
property rights and land titling, then create groups and
organizations, and finally, bring in the technical solutions
and resources
• Encouraging equal participation of men and women in
problem solving; and
• Developing local capacity among local people for decentralized management of degraded lands.
In a remarkable development, the project initiatives have
resulted in a new legislation in land titling requiring joint
registration in the names of both husband and wife for
allocation of reclaimed land.
Systematic Integration of Women in a
National Program: Indonesia Integrated
Pest Management (I PM) Training Project
The IPM Training project is implemented in 12 main riceproducing provinces to stabilize agricultural production,
particularly rice, and promote environmentally sound crop
production systems. Using farmer field-school methodology, the
project trained farmers and farmer-trainers and built awareness
about the health and environmental hazards of continued use of
pesticides in rice production.
Project outcomes had a far-reaching impact on rice
production systems in the country. At the implementation
completion in 1999, a total of 900,000 farmers and 23,000
farmer-trainers, of which 160,000 were women, had been trained
in IPM. Crop yield was maintained although pesticide use was
reduced and the project improved the environment and farmers’
health.
In spite of strong social, cultural and religious barriers, a
significant number of women beneficiaries participated in all
project activities. Women farmers were successfully trained in
IPM, and leadership developed among women farmer-trainers.
Women became very active in post field-school activities and in
farmers’ networks and associations. The following gender-related
activities led to the success in integrating women in project
activities all around the country:
• A national target of 30% participation of women farmers in
IPM field schools
• Gender analysis by farmers during planning and selection of
participants for farmers’ field-schools (FFSs). Guidelines were
issued also to match the percentage of women farmer-trainers
with the percentage of female participants in the FFSs
• Annual gender studies on women’s participation and
leadership in the National IPM program
• Monitoring and evaluation of women’s participation in
individual field-schools
• Women’s participation as IPM alumni and leaders in postfield schools’ activities played a big role in networking among
women farmers and in the informal spread of IPM.
Checklist of Gender-Related Issues and Activities during Project Cycle
Notes to Task
Teams
Technology
Development
Policy
and Institutional
Socio-economic
Identification
and Preparation
Design
and Appraisal
Implementation
and Supervision
Implementation
Completion
✓ Division of labor between men
and women in farming activities
in project area
✓ Constraints men and women
farmers face in improving
productivity
✓ Men’s and women’s access and
control over resources at
household level
✓ Men and women farmers’
understanding and capacity to
adopt sustainable practices
✓ Gender inclusive project
✓ Women’s farm productivity and
activities geared towards
their role in decision making
✓ Quality of participation of
meeting specific needs of men
and women
women in agriculture and NRM
✓ Interventions to improve
✓ Awareness among men and
women’s access to productive
women about sustainability in
farming practices
resources within existing social
and cultural context
✓ Community mobilization in
adoption of sustainable practices
and NRM
✓ Women’s role in agriculture and
NRM strengthened
✓ Improvement in women and
men farmers’ income and
overall social wellbeing
✓ Prevailing system in land tenure
security and women’s land
rights
✓ Existing capacity of institutions
to provide support to farming
needs of men and women
✓ Project initiatives to address
gender differences in land rights
✓ Capacity building in extension
and other services to address
gender
✓ Women farmers’ access to land
✓ Training of staff trained in
gender,
✓ Gender balance among staff
✓ Gender focus in extension
activities
✓ Gender equity in access and
management of land resources
✓ Farmers’ knowledge of
sustainable farming and NRM
✓ Gender specific technology
needs to improve productivity
and sustainability
✓ Technological support in
conservation approaches by
community, women’s groups
✓ Focus on women and the less
privileged—productivity
increase in degraded lands and
post harvest technology
✓ Information dissemination on
farmer oriented sustainable
practices in agriculture and
NRM
✓ Women’s participation in field
demonstrations and technology
adoption
✓ Improved management and
sustainability of land resources
✓ Increase in productivity and
fertility of degraded land
✓ Collect background information
on men’s and women’s
dynamics in agriculture and
NRM to identify gender issues.
✓ A preliminary gender study or
an engendered PRA is advisable
to help identify specific areas of
emphasis in the project.
✓ Emphasis should be given to
assessing improvement in the
quality of women’s participation.
✓ Impact of women’s participation
should be seen in overall context
- social, economic, environmen
tal.
Suggested Gender-Related Indicators for Agriculture and
Natural Resource Management Projects
Sub-sector Indicators
Input Indicators
♦ Changes in the role of men and
women in agriculture in project
area
♦ Increase in number of female
headed households, women as
land-owners, etc.
♦ Increase in awareness about
conservation- oriented practices
among men and women.
♦ Incorporation of women
farmers/ landless laborers in
project activities
♦ Women’s level of participation in
extension programs’ planning
and implementation
♦ Mass media materials on
technology and practices
available
♦ Support for technology adoption
–research, training, inputs
♦ Amount of funding for gender
specific activities.
Output Indicators
♦ Improvement in access to
resources by men and women
farmers
♦ % of men and women adopting
sustainable practices
♦ Increase in number of women
participating in field training and
farmers’ groups activities
♦ Increase in productivity of
degraded lands.
Impact Indicators
♦ Improvement in land management practices, reduction in land
resource degradation
♦ Improvement in productivity of
degraded lands and
♦ Improvement in women’s
income
♦ Women’s empowerment and
overall well being –nutrition and
health.